I am a British Citizen. I have 2 children aged 12 and 9 (also British).
I tried to travel to Canada from USA last year, and was denied an eTa. My children were able to get there eTa, and ended up in travelling with a relative. I entered Canada overland, and spent a week there.
It appears that I have Canadian Residency. I believe that this is from when I was an infant and I lived in Canada with my father, who has since died.
I have spent 1 week in the last 5 years in Canada. Before that, I occasionally visited for holidays, perhaps a total of 3 months over 40 years. I was allowed entry, as the Canadian Immigration computer system had not been connected fully, and hence the immigration officials didn’t know that I had a Permanent Residency and that actually I needed a Permanent Resident Travel Document.
I am trying to go to Canada this summer to see family.
My options are:
renounce my residency
apply as a resident, and apply for a Permanent Resident Travel Document
I have been told that to do #1 is easy and then I’ll be treating as any British Citizen.
However, I’d like to understand #2. Given that I’ve barely spent any time in Canada in the last 40 years, have I actually got any real chance of getting a Permanent Resident Travel Document? And if one day I wanted to actually move to Canada, would my Permanent Resident status have any bearing?
We suggest that it is important and probably best that you speak to a Lawyer who is familiar with Canadian immigration issues for additional information regarding your situation.
I hope this information is helpful. Please let us know if you have further questions and if there is any follow up to your question/situation.
